(Complete Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances #1-5)

by Michelle Mankin

  “Nah, I appreciate the invite, but I’ve got stuff to do,” Ashland replied, opening a water bottle of his own with his long slender fingers. My eyes burned as I stared at him. Mesmerized, I was unable to look away. He was just as striking as ever. He wore a navy OB ball cap on backwards, his platinum hair skimming his broad shoulders. A black workout tank and grey cutoff sweats revealed his sculpted arms and muscled thighs. With his sleek skin, golden tanned strong body and ruggedly handsome face, he could have easily been a model for the gym.

  “Oh yeah, like what? We do own the record label. We can set our own hours.”

  “Yeah I know, if I were content to rest on our laurels and not grow, that plan would be fine. But I promised Ramon I’d listen to the new mix on his album.” And that voice. Deep. Smooth. Devastatingly sexy. My stomach fluttered.

  Stop it, Fanny. He might not have changed, but you have. You are not the same infatuated fangirl you were back then.

  “I can’t believe you talked him into recording again. He was so adamant about being done with music.”

  “Our guitarist protests too much. I read between the lines. It’s the traveling he’s done with.”

  “Being away from OB and Karen you mean.”

  “Yeah, no doubt.”

  “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “You know what I mean. Always holed up in that palatial penthouse with way too much space. You found anyone to share it with you?”

  “I don’t know about palatial. It’s only got two bedrooms, Linc.”

  “It takes up the whole top floor of the building, Ash. Two if you count that cool rooftop. And no computer and not a single TV in that huge place. That’s just plain weird. Seems to me you enjoy disengaging from the outside world just a little too much. But you’re avoiding the real issue. What about you and Renee?”

  “Nothing to tell, cousin. We have an arrangement that works for both of us. It’s never been anything more.”

  “It could be if you wanted it to.”

  “Give it a rest, Linc. You’ve got the best girl in OB locked down, and Ramon’s got one who’s a near tie for that title. And anyway, I’m not looking. My heart belongs to you and Simone. My life’s full. I don’t need anyone else in it.”

  Lincoln said something more, but I couldn’t hear it. They had moved too far away. My curiosity overriding my caution, I took a step forward. A crack. A loud one. I had stepped on a fallen tree branch and broken it in two. My eyes went wide as both men snapped their heads in my direction. Ashland stared right where I was cowering as if I had an inner homing beacon that he was attuned to.

  Chapter Three

  * * *

  Ashland

  “Hey!” I exclaimed. It was her. The Lakers Girl. “Wait!” I shouted, but predictably she was already on the move, running in the opposite direction. I dove into the underbrush right where she had been standing only a moment before. The foliage was thick. Branches that she ducked gracefully beneath slammed into my chest as I pursued her. I reached out to grab her as she slowed to skirt along the edge of the building, but I got nothing but a handful of air. She dropped to her rear to skid down an embankment. Staying on my feet, I barreled after her scraping my palms on the loose gravel. Reaching the bottom before I did, she picked up her skirts and ran full out. And the girl could sprint. However, I had an advantage. My legs were longer. Plus at midday the streets were crowded with people. Trying to avoid a collision with a mother and a baby carriage, she tripped and went sprawling, face first, palms out in front of herself to break her fall.

  “Ash, stop.” Linc grabbed my arm. Gripping it firmly, he yanked me back. I didn’t even realize he had been right behind me. “What the hell? She’s just a girl. You’re scaring her. Look.”

  “I am looking.” My adrenaline was humming. I was in chase mode. I needed to catch her. I felt like she held the answer to some important inner question, and then I wanted to…well, I wasn’t sure exactly. Speak with her, I guess, hear her voice, remove that cap and wipe the grime off her face to see what the hell she really looked like underneath it all so maybe I could let go of this nagging curiosity about her.

  “I need to get to her.” She was less than a dozen feet away. I’d never gotten this close to her, never had her hold my gaze like she was doing right now. Her silver eyes glowed like a magical mirror primed to reveal her secrets. I had to know what they were. I had to get closer. I tugged my arm free.

  “Why, Ash?” Linc asked, knowing he only held me from her because I allowed it. “I mean, what the hell?”

  I ripped my gaze from her to give him an incredulous look. “To thank her for saving Karen’s life.” He knew that. I’d been trying to catch her for weeks. I shouldn’t have to explain myself.

  “Really?” He frowned. “You have to chase some homeless girl through the woods and scare the shit out of her to thank her?”

  Well, hell. Now that he had put it like that I felt like a complete ass and paused to contemplate my motives. She didn’t wait for me to finish my introspection. Nimbly she flipped over. Leaves dislodging from her knit cap fell to the ground as she regained her feet. My own stumbled toward her as if our movements were connected.

  “Wait…” The plea clogged in my throat when I saw the bloody handprint on the concrete. Her bloody handprint. Guilt slowed my steps to a halt. I forced myself to stand still. Hands clenched at my sides, my eyes burned as I watched her escape. Her skirts kicked up high above her purple triple buckled high-tops. Darting in, out and around the people clogging up the sidewalk, I could practically feel her panic, and the further away she got away from me the more my uneasiness rose.

  “What’s really going on with you?”

  I turned to fully focus on the man I loved like a brother and desired like a lover, though I knew now that his heart would always belong to Simone.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, if you’re not busy chasing some poor little homeless girl around you’re pouring every waking hour into Outside.”

  “What’s your point?” I felt a crease form between my brows.

  “My point is.” He blew out a breath. “You need to get a life, man. A real one, stop drifting around on the periphery of everyone else’s.”

  “I’m not,” I huffed the denial though his criticism struck home.

  “You are. And you’ve been doing it for too fucking long. Especially since your diagnosis.”

  “I’m sick, Linc.”

  “So what, asshole? I mean alright it sucks. But it’s under control. Your t-count is stable and as long as you take your meds like you should, it’s not a death sentence. I went with you to those sessions with the doctor and all of the follow-ups with the psychologist. We went through the steps of rehab and rebuilding our lives side by side. You. Me. We’ve been through hell and back. Kicked addiction. Levelled with each other about our feelings. There aren’t any secrets between us anymore. There shouldn’t be any bullshit, either.” He studied me a long moment. “You haven’t moved on, Ash. You’re stuck in place. The same place, for almost two years now. It’s time. Take a chance and try for something real.”

  “HIV is my reality, cousin. Day to day I do what I need to. But relationships? The kind of happiness you and Simone have found, that kind of romantic shit? It isn’t in my future.”

  “Ash…” he protested. “It could be if you want it to be. People aren’t facts and figures. Relationships aren’t equations. It’s not always about A plus B.”

  “I’m fine. No need to psychoanalyze me.” I ignored my attraction to him and the appeal in his light blue eyes. “Stop trying to get up in my headspace.”

  “You’ve got a big heart. It’s the motivation behind nearly everything you do. There’s a lot of love inside of you. Sacrificial love. I’ve been the fortunate recipient of it over the years. We all have. I wouldn’t be with Simone now if it hadn’t been for your encouragement.” His expression softened. “Don’t be defensive. I just want the best fo
r you. I believe there’s someone out there for you, someone that likely needs you as much as you need them. But you have to be willing to look to find them. Willing to let that person in when they come along. And willing to really get on with your life in order to live it.”

  • • •

  I tossed my keys on the desk and turned to stare out my window at the view of the water. I’d been trying to clear my head of Linc’s well intended advice, but I wasn’t having much luck. Wasn’t having much success getting the girl with the purple hat out of there, either.

  My cell buzzed in my pocket. I withdrew it, saw who it was and took the call.

  “Hey, Ramon.”

  “Dude. Seriously. No. Just no. You practically mixed the guitar out completely. I can barely hear anything but my voice.”

  “Yeah. Exactly. I mean to emphasize it.” I spun my chair around and sat down, leaning back and putting my feet up on my desk. My studio. My office. My rules. If I wanted to drag in at noon in my exercise clothes that’s what I did. If I wanted to shake up my artists a little, well so be it. And I might as well get comfortable. Ramon was stubborn. This would likely take a while.

  “I’m not Linc, hermano.”

  “No. He has his gifts as a frontman. You have your own.”

  “I’m a guitarist. I’m just messing around on vocals.”

  “Whatever. We’ve had this conversation before. Your woman told you, and she’s right. You’ve got that raspy singing voice chicks love.”

  “But the chord progression is dope, and it’ll get lost with the lyrics cranked up that high.”

  “The chords are still there. It’s about balance.” In music and life it took the right composition for harmony. So why couldn’t I follow my own advice? “Put the headphones on. The good ones I got you. Not those shitty ear buds you favor. Listen to it, the entire arrangement a few times with an open mind, then sleep on it. In the morning if you still don’t like it, we’ll bring you back into the studio and redo everything. Alright?”

  “Alright.” He let out a breath. “Hey, speaking of my woman, she ran into the Lakers Girl at the church recycling center today.”

  “Oh, really.” I feigned a casual interest, but I put my feet on the floor and sat up straight.

  “Yeah, so you don’t need to chase her anymore. Karen thanked her, even talked to her a bit. She offered her a job.”

  “Did she take it?”

  “No. She mentioned being in trouble and was really skittish about being cornered. Karen thinks maybe she’s a runaway.”

  “She’s no kid.” I might be living my life on the periphery, but I had definitely been close enough to the Laker Girl’s to see that she had some serious curves.

  “Not like that. On the run from an abusive situation. A boyfriend or a spouse.”

  My fingers clenched into fists. The thought of that twisted my guts. No wonder my pursuit had frightened her.

  “So about the second item on the agenda from my woman. You gonna finally take her up on the invite to come over to the house and share a meal with us?”

  Fuck. That was the last thing I needed, though I loved them both. But I didn’t relish the thought of sitting down at a table with all their romantic bliss front and center given the complete lack of anything like it in my own life. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got a lot going on right now.” I still wanted to finish up early so I could swing by Stump’s Family Marketplace. I’d heard there had been a girl with a guitar over there doing a compelling cover of ‘Lonely Island’, an old Dirt Dogs’ number. Talented female performers were hard to come by. If she was decent I might bring her into the studio. “Can I take a raincheck?”

  “Ok, hermano,” he agreed as my other line bleeped. “But you’re going to have to answer to Karen if you keep making excuses.”

  “Hey, I’ve got another call.”

  “I get it. You’re busy, but Ash. Listen. Being busy doesn’t mean your life is full. No matter how many new artists you sign or how high they go on the charts, at the end of every day and the beginning of the next what really makes our lives meaningful is who we got beside us to share it. Right?”

  “I hear ya.”

  “Good. So don’t wait too long to come over here and share some time with your friends.”

  “I said I gotcha.”

  “Yeah, I know you do. You’ve always had my back. I’m here alive and kicking today with beauty in my life in large part because of you. What you too often forget is that I’m here for you, as well. Right beside you for the long haul, bro.”

  He hung up and I switched to the other line.

  “Ash. You there, my boy?”

  “Yeah. Hey, Dad.”

  “Hey, son. Haven’t talked to you in a while. Saw more of you when you were still touring.”

  Yeah, because I had stayed at the house when I was in town back then. He and my mom had been surprisingly disappointed about me finding new digs. Nearing the midpoint of my thirties, yet they still thought of me as their little boy.

  “What have you been up to?”

  “Not getting any work done,” I grumbled, putting my cell on speaker mode so I could shuffle through the daunting pile of mail on my desk.

  “You sound like your mom.”

  A compliment. “She doing ok?

  “Yeah, it’s just the busy time of the year for her. Lots of new zoning applications for the city council to comb over. And her birthday’s next week.”

  Fuck. I had forgotten.

  “I thought we might take her to El Prado for lunch. You know how she loves their pisco sour.”

  I did. “Count me in Dad.”

  “Can you get Linc and Simone to come?”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “You’re a good son.”

  “You’re a great father.” My parents were the good guys, loving and supportive. My dad would never turn down anyone who needed help, and my mom had an empathetic streak to match his. That was why she used her law degree to serve in the public sector instead of taking a higher paying job with a private firm. And that empathy wasn’t just reflected in her career. After growing up in foster care she had vowed that our house would always be a safe haven for anyone who needed one. We’d had Simone over for family meals when her old man had kicked her out. For years Linc slept in the twin bed beside me, more adopted brother than cousin after his mom had died and his father had physically abused him.

  “I’m proud of you and all you’ve accomplished. Just…” He hesitated. He wasn’t one to talk just to fill in the silence. His words might be few, but they were considered and meaningful when he spoke them. “Just don’t get consumed by all those multimillion dollar music deals. Remember why you started Outside in the first place.”

  “To give other SoCal artists a chance to create music that made a difference.”

  “You told me you can change the world with a simple song.”

  I’d been waxing philosophical after rehab. Both Linc and I had. Outside was a new phase for both of us. We’d done enough raging against the wrongs in the world as a band. That was exhausting and didn’t leave you with much of anything to hold onto in the end. We wanted to be about building something positive and lasting.

  “Motivations matter. The reasons why we do the things we do can be as important if not more so than the accomplishments themselves. You know what I always say. Motivations reveal our hearts.”

  “I know, dad. I remember.”

  “Good.”

  Our conversation turned briefly to the prospects of his favorite baseball team, the Red Sox, before we ended the call the way we usually did with back and forth I love yous.

  I got back to work. Mail first. Most of it junk. More than a few inquiries for follow up interviews about my appearance on the Rock Fuck Club. I hadn’t wanted to do it, but Linc had been right, being on the show had been great for the label. Giving us visibility with the entertainment industry and the music crowd. We had signed a couple of promising bands on the heels
of it. A plus professionally. A minus personally. Ever since my booty call, Renee had paired up on screen with the RFC star, she had been acting weird with me.

  Once I cleared the mail, I moved onto the budget. No worries there. We were kicking ass across the board, and despite just starting out, Linc and I had several artists on the hook. Other labels like Black Cat Records and Zenith Productions had to be watching us. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if one or both tried to buy us out.

  Next, I tucked into the current concert schedule and the studio calendar. Logistics focused tasks. Things that came easy to me. Things I enjoyed. A plus B stuff. Back in the early days of the band on our mini-tour up the SoCal coast, I had been the one setting up the gigs, negotiating with the club owners. Dominic had been in charge of keeping my dad’s VW bus running. Ramon had been our PR guy tacking up fliers. Mona with the camera I had given her had served as our historian. Linc, well, he had been just holding on, a mere shadow of his former self trying to recover physically and mentally from the injury that had cost him his dream of being the world’s best professional surfer.

  Nostalgic thoughts weighing me down put me in the mood for some musical therapy. I logged out of my computer, stood, stretched and headed out of my office and down the hall. Studio three was free. It had a decent kit. I was going to work on some of the drum fills for Ramon’s album.

  I was on the second to the last track when our receptionist and accountant shuffled out the front door, done for the day, heading home to their families. I’d completely lost track of time. I clicked off the recording equipment with the remote, set my sticks on my knees and grabbed the bottle of water beside me. The liquid was room temperature now but still refreshing. I drank it all and tossed the empty into the recycling bin. Grabbing a towel from the table beside me, I wiped the sweat from my brow. That’s when I noticed my cell all lit up and dancing, still on vibrate mode.